English Language & Usage Asked by kuchitsu on January 15, 2021
In “Nine While Nine” by The Sisters of Mercy there is this line:
Nine while nine and I’m waiting for the train…
What does “nine while nine” actually mean? I’ve never encountered anything similar in English apart from “nine to five” maybe. Perhaps these are related somehow?
It’s whats said in some parts of Yorkshire when referring to time. Instead of saying to they say while, so it means 9am to 9pm.
Answered by Simon on January 15, 2021
The sense is recognised by the OED, as a "chiefly Northern" one.
b. as prep. Up to (a time), up to the time of; till, until. Now dialect (chiefly northern).
It actually has examples dating from 1455. More recent ones are:
1721 Coll. Polit. Lett. London Jrnl. 1720 14 Tho' he sweat and scrub while Doomsday. 1722 Mason's Acct. in C. Wordsworth Rutland Words (1891) 39 I was 2 dayes; And my Son was 2 days. And the third day wile three a Clock. 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northamptonshire Words II. 393 It wants a quarter while nine o'clock.
Answered by WS2 on January 15, 2021
<Doncaster lad here: born late '60s> "xxx while xxx", referring to time, was indeed not uncommon as a phrase.
Answered by James Garry on January 15, 2021
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